To delight of critics, Perth Amboy nixes waterfront development deal with Kushner Companies

PERTH AMBOY – The Perth Amboy City Council last month shot down a proposed large-scale development here, which surprised the developer, heartened critics and put into limbo plans for the city's waterfront.

"I'm delighted the city council had the spine (to turn down the plan), because they're under a lot of pressure," said Daniel Santo Pietro, a resident of Kushner Companies' Landings at Harborside development and a vocal Kushner critic.

The Kushner development once promised a revitalization of the city' waterfront, with a jitney to Wall Street, a park and thousands of owner-occupied condos at Landings. The $600 million plan, which dates to 13 years ago, included 2,000 condo units and three community parks.

But when the real-estate market tanked in the mid- to late-aughts, the developer drastically scaled back its ambitions. It had already built two condo buildings on Rector Street, but the next phases of the plan were scrapped. Meanwhile, people who had already bought condos at the Landings properties are upset that they made home purchases based on a waterfront plan that won't come fully to fruition.

Just before Thanksgiving, the developer came to the Perth Amboy City Council with a more modest proposal for the next stages of its plan, which would include one- and two-bedroom rental units instead of all owner-occupied condos. The company has only built about 150 of the units it had originally proposed, homeowners say.

The City Council turned down the plan, so it's back to the drawing board.

"Those changes are so significantly downgrading of the original plan," said Tracy Jordan, another Landings homeowner and critic.

Much of the opposition to the plan surrounded a proposal to build a large parking lot at the property – Jordan described it as "fields and fields of asphalt."

"Looking out on a parking lot?" said Christine Dispenziere, another Landings condo owner. "That's ridiculous. That's not what I paid for."

Several residents are involved in lawsuits against the company. They want Kushner to build what was originally proposed – the terms under which they purchased condos – or at least close to it. They've also accused the company of shoddy construction.

A spokesman for Kushner Companies said that the old plan is no longer possible.

"They said we want you to build the original plan and we wish it made economic sense," Josh Raffel said in an email.

On residents' complaints about shoddy construction work, Raffel said that the company has "yet to hear specific requests," a claim that residents themselves rebut.

And as for complaints that property values will go down if rental units are built near their condos, which wasn't part of the original plan, Raffel said: "We believe the homeowners stand to benefit (under Kushner's revised proposal). Their property values will go up with a park and a pier."

Mayor Wilda Diaz said she was optimistic that Kushner Companies, the city and the Landings residents could work out their differences.

"These are things I believe can be worked out," she said. "There's always give and take in conversations. I'm hoping we sit down again with Kushner Companies."